


Mudlarks of Pleasant

by MysteryMuse



Series: Random Access Memory [11]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Drabble, Gen, Work Up For Adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-12
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:40:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1772785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteryMuse/pseuds/MysteryMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No ordinary human or machine, it was thought, could resolve this problem. The Hunters and the Federation were literally out of options.</p><p>So the order came down: it was time to deploy Maverick Hunter X.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mudlarks of Pleasant

The city of Pleasant had once been very pleasant indeed. Built with an eye toward combined green spaces and environmental sustainability, buildings of a limited scale mingled comfortably with verdant green mechaplants. Humans flocked to it, as the Federation had deliberately placed rent controls on each building and placed a special emphasis on compacted urban living. Tax incentives had been given to those who abandoned cars and other old-fuel systems; Pleasant was powered to its fullest by an experimental energy technology that (it was hoped) would become a new standard for all human cities. Children and adults came in great numbers, like modern-day pioneers. There was a waiting list eight years long to get housing inside the city.  
  
Then the Mavericks attacked.  
  
What had been a city of hope was blasted to ruin in one bitter, savage week. The fighting had been intense; the Maverick Hunters had fought bravely- but they hadn't been able to stop the Mavericks from escaping with the prototype. Many humans fled as the bombardments began. Others, thousands more, had not been so fortunate.  
  
The ruins of Pleasant languished for nearly a year, its remains entangled in law suits, public debates, investigation committees, internal affairs probes. The Federation picked away what remained of the city's technology; scavengers stripped the rest, and Pleasant's broken shell grew old and dark.  
  
It took another three years before the Reclamation Committee was given approval to retake the land. They sent in the first wave of construction equipment. The treads of the concrete mixers and wrecking machines thundered over the dead ground like tanks.  
  
Within three days, a report came in. The vehicles were being sabotaged. Fuel lines were crudely slashed open. Seats were torn out and tossed to the ground. Windows were smashed in, and in some cases the equipment had even been set on fire. Workers were injured by small arms fire, broken glass, and stones- one man lost an eye. The attacks came from strange angles, and they never saw their attackers. Inhuman voices echoed in the ruins, strange shrieks of triumph.  
  
Five days later, after the construction workers were withdrawn, a five-member team of Maverick Hunters were sent in. Their ceratanium bodies easily withstood the deluge of stones and bullets- but when the enemy saw that these tactics were ineffective, suddenly the Hunters were deluged with gasoline and acids from above, assaulted by crude, home-made incendiary devices or home-made grenades packed with explosives and sharp, twisted metal shrapnel. Electromagnetic pulses scrambled the team's circuits, making it impossible to function. The Reploids, too, came out of the ruins of Pleasant bleeding, and cries of triumph sounded once more in the hollow darkness.  
  
The footage from the Hunters' optical cameras was passed around the Hunter base and heavily discussed. Rumors flew; the voices were ghosts, the remains of the humans who had died in the rubble. The more prosaic pondered a new type of Maverick hiding in the ruins, and wondered about the crudeness of the devices used in the attacks.  
  
After another heavy round of discussion and debate it was decided; there could only be one final course of action to take. No ordinary human or machine, it was thought, could resolve this problem. The Hunters and the Federation were literally out of options.  
  
So the order came down: it was time to deploy Maverick Hunter X.

**Author's Note:**

> Incomplete drabble - I got a little farther than this, but it got wiped out in a drive failure. For those who are wondering, the 'mudlarks' are feral human children who, for various reasons, did not abandon the city. I had wanted to see how X would handle destructive humans - and especially to see if his heart would be able to thaw to them at a late point in the series (post X8)


End file.
